Friday 14 December 2012

And Another Head Rises Above The Parapet...

I've only just found this statement from Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury Diocese. I did think it odd that he didn't appear to have made a statement on same-sex "marriage." It seems that Bishop Davies actually made his statement the day before Archbishops Nichols and Smith published their joint statement on behalf of the Bishops' Conference of England & Wales.

I can understand the desire to have a single, united statement from the Bishops of England & Wales. However, I suspect that we really need every single Bishop to make it absolutely clear that they are opposed to the proposed legislation, that they believe that the guarantees being promised aren't worth the paper they are written on, and that they are going to exhort the faithful, in no uncertain terms, to oppose the Bill. It is worth reminding Mr. Cameron that there are rather a lot of Catholics in the country, and he tramples on our rights and consciences at his peril.

On that note, I have to say that I enjoyed the latest offering from Bones...


St. Jude is a particular favourite of mine, being the first saint I encountered "properly" when a novena to him sorted out a previously intransigent hospital waiting list.

I do have a sneaking suspicion that we might need to invoke the whole Litany...

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Habemus Tweet...

Now this really does put the rest of us tweeters and bloggers to shame. To think that I have simply been whipping out my Android phone for a quick exchange of views on Twitter, or gloating over my laptop as I blog away. The Holy Father has shown us how it should be done: with a cheering (and chanting) audience, a throne, several aides to make sure there are no embarrassing little spelling mistakes (predictive text really is a pain!) and a fully-charged iPad.



Ok, scratch the iPad. The Curt Jester has already called dibs on it anyway (via Facebook... how very last year!), just in case it turns out to be a second class relic. And the Ironic Catholic wants the table. So I'll just be a humble minor-blogger, and settle for the champers and chocolate cake mentioned by His Hermeneuticalness...

Oh, and just in case you're wondering - here's a shot of the Holy Father's first ever tweet...

Standing Up To Be Counted...

I previously bewailed the absence of any response to the Government's proposals to push through legislation on same-sex "marriage." Bishop Joseph Devine of the Diocese of Motherwell was the first to stick his head above the parapet - though same-sex "marriage" was only one of the issues he raised - closely followed by Bishop Philip Egan, the new Bishop of Portsmouth.

Now it appears that the other Bishops are starting to wake up. Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Peter Smith, as President and Vice-President, respectively, of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales, issued a joint statement on the Government response to the same sex marriage consultation. It did read very much like a statement drawn up by committee (as Fr. Ray pointed out, the Bishops' Conference does appear to frustrate the decision-making process) but at least the statement has been made, with its unequivocal opposition to any Bill changing the definition of marriage.

Furthermore, Archbishop Peter Smith issued another statement after his meeting with Maria Miller, the Secretary of State. In this much more personal statement, Archbishop Smith explained in detail why the intention to redefine marriage is such a problem.

"There is only one institution called marriage, whether you enter it by a civil or religious route, and it is for the good of society as a whole that we are concerned. The essence of marriage involves the complementarity of the two genders, male and female... 
"...the Government thus far has shown an impoverished understanding, unable to see that the institution of marriage is more than a way of recognizing committed loving relationships. What marriage has always meant is the union of one man and one woman for love and mutual support, and open to the procreation of children. This is the most secure foundation for the family and, as all the evidence shows, provides the best environment in which the next generation can be created and brought up as flourishing members of society. That is why society has given a particular legal status to marriage distinct from all other relationships: it is because it provides a unique benefit not only to the married couple but also to society itself. There lies the root of our opposition: it is a desire to preserve marriage in its full meaning as an essential element of the common good of society."

And now, Bishop Michael Campbell, the Bishop of Lancaster, has brought out his own statement, ending with an endorsement of the statement made by the Archbishops of Westminster and Southwark.

It is a huge relief that some of the Bishops, at least, have started to respond to this crisis - for it is a crisis. The Government, in choosing to ignore over 600,000 signatures objecting to the proposed change in the law, showed how very little concern it has for the democratic process. The redefinition of marriage in law may well mean that the Catholic Church has to follow continental customs, treating the Sacrament of Matrimony as completely separate from the civil registration of marriage. If that should prove to be the case, one might actually question the necessity for any civil registration at all...

Monday 10 December 2012

Telling It Like It Is...

My post on David Cameron's determination to push through same-sex "marriage" was written in a bit of a hurry - I had come out straight from school, gone shopping for the refreshments for Fr. Finigan's final talk on Vatican II for the Year of Faith, set everything up and then got out my laptop for some very quick blogging. I was sure that, over the weekend, there would definitely be some sort of response from the Catholic Hierarchy. After all, this blatant attack on the institution of marriage couldn't possibly be allowed to go unchallenged...

No response from the Bishops of England & Wales. It wasn't just that I didn't notice anything - Fr. Ray Blake also noted the deafening silence.

So I was very pleased to hear rumours that, once again, a Bishop from Scotland had stepped into the breach, and was stating, in no uncertain terms, that David Cameron's reassurances on the one hand and attacks on the other really wouldn't do. Unfortunately, Scotland on Sunday didn't seem to like the fact that a Catholic Bishop should want to defend Catholic teaching, and so took the Bishop to task for his "intemperate" letter with its "sarcastic" tirade. Scottish bishops do have a bit of a reputation for directness of approach, but, given the mainstream media's enchantment with the idea of same-sex marriage, I was a little dubious as to the truthfulness of the account of the epistolary exchange.

Nowhere did the original letters appear, and so I contacted the Bishop himself.

The full correspondence made for very interesting reading. It wasn't my idea of an intemperate and sarcastic tirade. A little forthright, perhaps, not written in the usual diplomatic-ese, but only in so far as it called a spade a shovel. The Bishop showed great restraint, in my humble opinion, in not calling the spade a shovel and battering the Prime Minister over the head with it. Instead he merely handed the shovel over and invited the Prime Minister to recommence his digging...

To begin with, Bishop Devine's first letter was asking the Prime Minister for an explanation of the conflict between his statement that Christians should have the right to wear a cross at work (and that the law should be changed to allow this, if necessary) and the Government's petitioning of the European Court of Human Rights to judge that Christians should accept that personal expressions of faith at work might cost them their jobs. The letter ended by asking for an assurance that Christians' freedom of thought, conscience and religion would be respected.

The reply from Mr. Cameron was abrupt and rather dismissive. He stated that the Government's position was that people should be allowed to wear a cross at work, but that the Government wanted to fight against this at the European Court of Human Rights because the cases being examined had been lost at tribunals and courts in the UK and the Government didn't want UK law to be overturned in Europe.

Oh, right. That's ok then. Injustice towards a minority group is allowed, and actually to be encouraged, just so long as it is British injustice. None of that European injustice for us Christians, thank you very much!

Bishop Devine, not unnaturally, appeared to feel that this really needed a reply. He reiterated his point that the first letter had actually asked for assurances about freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and went on to state that no such reassurances had been given. The Bishop also pointed out that, with the conflicting positions of what Mr. Cameron said and what he actually did, it was hardly surprising that people would be wary of trusting him in the future.

The Bishop also pointed out that Catholics were the one faith group not provided for in law, and stated that he suspected it was only a matter of time "...before you go one step further and outlaw the teaching of Christian doctrine on sexual morality on the grounds of discrimination."

The Bishop then warned Mr. Cameron against rushing through legislation on same-sex marriage:

"Counsel from respected legal experts warn of the damage that redefining marriage will do to Christian religious freedom and the protection of family life, all of which will further undermine Christians freedom of conscience. We face the prospect of teachers being forced to teach against their religious beliefs or face dismissal... the likelihood that parents would have no right to withdraw their child from lessons endorsing gay marriage; the probability of public sector workers losing their jobs for not promoting the government's new vision of marriage and carers being rejected for fostering because of their Christian beliefs. This amounts to a serious threat to civil liberties even to the extent of preventing people doing things which are manifestly good for society."

Bishop Devine quotes the Holy Father, and then continues:

"In a recent report the UN special rapporteur said "The state has to respect everyone's freedom of religion or belief as an inalienable - and thus non-negotiable - entitlement of human beings." Sadly, under your premiership, this most basic of human rights is no longer being respected in the UK."

The Bishop of Motherwell has called the Prime Minister to account for his inconsistencies. No doubt he will take an awful lot of flak from the mainstream media for daring to speak out. It is important, I think, for ordinary Catholics to assure the Bishop of our prayers and support - it is possible to email messages for the Bishop care of the Chancellor of the Diocese (Bishop Devine doesn't appear to have a personal email address on the Diocesan site.)

And finally today, one of the English bishops, Philip Egan, has published a statement on the Portsmouth Diocese website, warning Mr. Cameron against pushing through legislation of same-sex "marriage". We need to pray for him, and for the other Bishops who have not yet had the courage to stand up publicly in defence of Church teaching.

Sunday 9 December 2012

End Of The World? Still Hand In Your Homework...


The idea that the Mayan calendar has predicted the end of the world on 21 December this year seems to be gaining momentum. NASA has even posted a debunking page.

Several of my students have pointed out that, if the world is about to end, it is extremely unreasonable of me to give them all homework. I retaliated by promising them that, should the world actually end on December 21, then I will excuse them from handing the work in on the first day back in January...


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